The effect of contemporary conditions in the Jerusalem Church on the writing of the epistle to the Romans

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The apparent departure of most of the original apostles from
Jerusalem some time after the Apostolic Council brought about the
decisive decline of the moderate group's influence in the Jerusalem
Church and the eventual transference of leadership from Peter to
James the Lord's brother who was the virtual head of the Jerusalem
Judaizers. Consequently, the agreement at the Apostolic Council
came to be unilaterally annulled by the Jerusalem Judaizers and the
Judaizing campaigns toward the whole Gentile churches became drastic¬
ally intensified. Moreover, the incident at Antioch aggravated
irrevocably the already antagonistic relations between the Apostle
Paul and the Jerusalem Judaizers. As a result, James the Lord's
brother and other Jerusalem Church leaders came to reach the solemn
conclusion that, with a view to the unity of all churches under the
leadership of ONE MOTHER CHURCH at Jerusalem, Paul should be removed
by all means.

On the other hand, in his firm belief that the Return of the
Risen Lord was imminent, the Apostle Paul was determined to proclaim
the Gospel even to those in Spain before His Advent took place. At
the same time, however, he was deeply concerned about the future of
the young and still weak Gentile churches in the face of the systematic
campaigns of the Jerusalem Judaizers which would certainly be
v
escalated all the more immediately after his departure for Spain.
In these circumstances, the Apostle Paul made a grim resolution even
at the risk of his own life (Cf. Rom. 15:30-32, Acts 21:11-14) to
visit Jerusalem and appeal for the last time to a spark of conscience
in the Jerusalem Judaizers led by James. Then, bearing in mind the
possibility both of his death at Jerusalem and also that of a safe
return from this city, the Apostle took two necessary measures.
First, he took great pains (a) to bind the divided Roman congregation
in his Gospel with the ultimate aim of making it the invincible
protector of the true Gospel and (b) to check the danger of
indiscreet enthusiasm among the Roman Christians in their expectation
of the imminent Parousia. Such enthusiasm would directly threaten
not only the very existence of the Roman Church itself but even that
of all the churches in the Empire. Secondly, the Apostle obviously
took his chance to effect his safe return from Jerusalem by removing
the probable hostility against himself produced by the Jerusalem
Judaizers among the Jewish Christians of the Roman Church and thus
making the Roman Christians as a whole intervene positively between
himself and the Jerusalem Judaizers for his safety.

Despite all these painstaking efforts, the Apostle Paul failed
to escape the deadly trap set by James the Lord's brother when he
arrived at Jerusalem.